Folding



Oct. 29, 1935. |M$HAUG 2,018,855

FOLDING Filed Nov. 23, 1932 dwi/ 29-5 75-4 Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNiTED STATES FOLDING Arnold Imshaug, Chicago, 111., assignor to The Goss Printing Press Company, Chicago, 11]., a

corporation of Illinois Application November 23,1932, Serial No. 643,989

4 Claims. (Cl. 270-64) The present invention relates to folding'and more particularly to a new and improved method of folding a group of sheets whereby wrinkling of the sheets at the fold is avoided.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by prac-' tice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities l0 and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, construction, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawing, referred to herein and constituting a part hereof, illustrates one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serves to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawing:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a folding mechanism suitable for use in producing the product of the present invention and for practicing the method of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a detailed front elevation of the slitting disc used in connection with the present invention;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of a group of sheets to be folded in accordance with the present invention, with the lines of fold indicated thereon;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the completed product; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a novel folded product and method of producing the same whereby wrinkling of the product is prevented. Another object is the provision of such a product and method whereby the folded edges of the product will be of substantially uniform thickness throughout their length. Still another object is the provision of a novel method of folding which permits a larger number of sheets to be satisfactorily folded than has heretofore been possible.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawing, which shows an illustrative product in accordance with the present invention and; the steps of the preferred method of producing said product, said product comprises a plurality of sheets in of substantially uniform size, associated in register with each other. As indicated in Fig- -ure 3, said sheets are to be folded along a central longitudinal line H and are also to be folded along a central transverse line l2 to form the product shown in Figure 4 of the drawing. Other folds may be employed as determined by the size, shape and number of pages desired in the final product. 5

To prevent wrinkling of the inside pages of the product adjacent to the point where the lines of fold H and I2 intersect each other, a short slit I4 is formed in said'product, prior to the last folding operation, and said slit preferi0 ably extends through all of said sheets, and preferably extends to but not beyond the line of fold l2 at right angles to the last fold. Said slit is also positioned to lie on the outside of the folded product, as shown in Figure 5. While said 15 sheets arefolded along the line of last fold H, the edges of the paper at the slit can move away from each other a slight distance and thereby wrinkling of the sheets on the inside of the product is prevented. 20

If desired, a line of perforations may be provided along the line of fold II to facilitate binding of several products into a single book.

When the slit extends only to fold i2,'and the inner half of the product is not slit, this 25 slit does not interfere with proper registration of the products against conveyor stops when said products are gathered together in the bindery.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing illustrate a typical mechanism for carrying out the method 30 of the present invention, and as there shown a group of associated webs 9 are cut into sheet lengths by rotary cutting cylinders l5, and said sheets are led to the folding mechanism past slitting and perforating disc it. The circumfer- 35 ence of disc I6 is preferably equal to asheet length, and cooperates with a backing roll l1 which presses the sheets against the teeth on disc iii to perforate and slit the sheets. Disc I6 is provided with a series of fine, closely spaced teeth l8, for a distance approximately equal to onesixth or one-eighth the sheet length, and throughout the remainder of its periphery it is provided with larger teeth l9, spaced farther apart which perforate the product in alinement 45 with the slit M formed by teeth l8.

The folding mechanism may be of any desired form, but as shown comprises a folding cylinder 20 which serves to fold the sheets transversely into a folding jaw on jaw cylinder 2| by which 0 they are laid on delivery tapes 22 and conveyed to the chopper folder 23 where they are folded longitudinally along the line of perforations II and slit M.

Disc I6 is driven in timed relation to the fold- 55 ing mechanism, and is so timed that the slit I4 is properly positioned immediately in advance of the line of fold I2.

Other forms of mechanism may, of course, be employed in carrying out the present invention, and the slit, perforations and the several folds may be formed by hand, if so desired.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanism shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:-

1. The method of preventing wrinkling in the folding of signatures which comprises forming a slit through a plurality of associated sheets and folding said sheets a plurality of times, the last fold being at right angles to another fold with the slit on the outside and along the line of the last fold and extending only to the folded edge of the product.

2. The method of preventing wrinkling in the folding of signatures which comprises forming a slit through a plurality of associated sheets and perforating said sheets along a line extending from both ends of said slit, folding said sheets 5 along a line touching one end of said.slit and folding said sheets a second time with the line of fold along said slit and with said slit on the outside of said product.

3. A folded product comprising a plurality of 10 sheets folded a plurality of times with the last fold at right angles to another fold, and a short slit on the outside of the product extending from a folded edge along the line of the last fold, said product also being perforated along the line or 15 said last fold.

4. A folded product comprising a plurality of sheets folded together a plurality of times with the last fold at right angles to another fold, a short slit on the outside of the product along 20 the line of said last fold and extending only to said other folded edge of said product.

' ARNOLD IMSHAUG. 

